Parts Unknown: The Comic Book Store

Parts Unknown opened its doors on August 9th 1989 at the now vacant Cotton Mill Square Outlet Mall in Greensboro, NC. And it is still open today at 906 Spring Garden Street.
I have been a fan of comic books since the fourth grade and I used to dream about a store that sold comics. I even used to walk around Greensboro hoping to find one. That is why I decided to open my own store.

There are a lot of people to thank and I would like to do that now. First, I want to thank my stepfather Charles O. Forbis and my mother Amy Forbis for believing in me and co-signing for my bank loan. Trust me folks, that took a lot of guts on their part and I did pay them back.

I also need to thank Obin Johnson for being my partner in this store and being a good friend. Obin believed in me and put his money where his mouth was and I really do owe him a lot.

There have been a lot of fine caring people who have worked at Parts Unknown that need to be thanked. The late Rusty Neese who was there from the beginning. Chris Ferguson who has been here forever and still helps with all the store fliers and convention programs and many other things I can’t even list.

The following people have been a huge help working at this store: Mark Way, J.J. Richardson, Don Stroud, Bruce Mitchell, K.C. O’Connor, P.J., Eric Layton, Chris Young, Kelly Yates, Fritz Grondy, Jaysen Buterin, Brooks, Blake and Tammy Faucette, and Nick Bassett.

I also need to thank Mark Austin, John Butts and Tom Wimbish.

I also want to thank all the creative writers and artists that have attended my comic book conventions over the years. These amazing folks took time out of their very busy schedules to be with us and I for one and greatly humbled that they did so.

Here is that list and yes I do know all these people and I can’t get you an autograph: Al Williamson, Cori Williamson, Alex Toth, Will Eisner, Ann Eisner, Murphy Anderson, Archie Goodwin, Anne Murphy, George Evans, Evey Evans, Brian Bolland, Berni Wrightson, Mike Mignola, Kevin Eastman, Julie Schwartz, Dick Giordano, Scott Hampton, Bo Hampton, The Hernandez Brothers, Frank Cho, Angelo Torres, Dave Stevens, Jeffrey Jones, Jack Kirby, Kent Williams, George Pratt, Mark Chiarello, Joe Orlando, Dave Sim, Jon Van Fleet, Tommy Lee Edwards, Randy Green, Jeff Parker, Casey Jones, Richard Case, Chuck Wojtkiewicz, Rick Ketcham, Dave Dorman, Mark Nelson and Mark Schultz.